Presbyterian won its first-round tournament game for the first time in women’s basketball since 2017. The Blue Hose eliminated Charleston Southern, a thorn in their side in the rgular season.

A bevy of women’s wrestlers are off to the national championship.

Softball has a busy weekend in Florida.

Third time was the charm for Presbyterian women’s basketball at the Hercules Tires Big South Championships in High Point, N.C., on Thursday as the Blue Hose held on to win, 54-51, over Charleston Southern.

The Buccaneers swept the regular-season games against the Blue Hose, which is why CSU (11-19) was seeded fourth and PC (18-14) fifth, both winning half their conference games.

It was the mildest of upsets. The Bucs’ Shim Muhammad’s three-point attempt went awry at the buzzer.

At halftime, the Blue Hose led, 27-23, in a game notable for its sharpshooters. The Blue Hose connected on 11/28 shots, the Bucs 10/27. CSU splashed 2/11 attempts at three. PC was respectable (3/9) beyond the arc but hit only 2/6 free throws. Charleston Southern was 1/2.

Two minutes into the fourth quarter, the teams were tied at 46. At the time, both teams were shooting 42 percent from the field and were tied in rebounds at 29.

The Blue Hose held on after a close final minute of play.
“I thought the kids came out ready to play,” PC head coach Alaura Sharp stated. “It’s an interesting situation playing a team on Saturday and then coming out and playing the very same team here. Saturday’s game wasn’t our best, but the kids were really committed to responding.

“I also want to give Paige Kindseth a shout-out. She played really hard in the first few minutes and it reminded me of her freshman year where she had 24 points in the first round of the tournament.”

Kindseth provided nine points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.
CSU scored whittled PC’s lead down to two, 41-39. The Blue Hose went on a five-point run to end the third quarter behind a three from Sjökvist. Presbyterian headed to the final quarter of play with a 46-39 lead.

Charleston Southern took the first seven points of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 46 with eight minutes on the clock. The Blue Hose answered, scoring the next four points before a pair of free throws from the other side made it a two-point game. With 3:17 left to play, Sjökvist made a two-point jumper before Kline drew a charge. After a scoreless two minutes, Sonia Sato made a layup to give the Blue Hose a six-point lead with 1:05 left on the clock. CSU picked up another two points with 34.3 seconds to go, but PC held a four-point lead with a score of 54-50. The Buccaneers made a free throw with 20 seconds on the board to make it a three-point game, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Blue Hose.

PC advances to the semifinals for the first time since 2017 and for the third time in Division I history.
Tilda Sjökvist totaled 18 points, three assists, and two steals. Christina Kline put up 10 points, three assists, and five rebounds.
The Blue Hose will take on top-seeded High Point in the semifinals on Saturday 6 p.m.

Take a look at the stats here.

Presbyterian College is sending seven women’s wresters to the NCWWC – a wild guess is National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Coaches – National Championship in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The tournament gets underway Friday.

Chiara Barbieri (101 pounds), Alyssa Mahan (123), Cassia Zammit (130), Madeline Kubicki (143), Henlee Haynes (170), Ta’Niya Roberts (170) and Ella Beam (191) represent the Blue Hose.

Those seven have combined for 165 wins since November, though each competitor is making her first appearance in the nationals.

In the wake of a 1-0 win over Wofford, PC softball is preparing to play five games in Jacksonville, Fla., in a tournament hosted by the Dolphins.

Presbyterian (7-12) opens on Saturday at 9 a.m. against Tarleton (Texas) State at Debbie & Fred Pruitt Softball Complex, followed by a 2 p.m. Sunday game against Jacksonville (7-11).

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